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More than 750,000 commuters will shave seconds off their MTR trips when fast-moving ticket gates are installed on the new Tseung Kwan O Line.

The Mass Transit Railway Corporation said the move would also save the company money.

Corporation bosses say 150 'flag' ticket gates - similar to those used for the Airport Express - will be fitted in five new stations on the 12.5km link at a cost of $21 billion. Civil and mechanical works on the line are 66 per cent and 55 per cent complete respectively.

MTR project manager (electrical and mechanical engineering) Paul Lo Po-hing said: 'They are more streamlined [than the Airport Express ones] with the Octopus sensor placed more towards the front so that it will be more convenient for passengers carrying handbags through them.

'Another special feature is that they open faster than turnstile ones on the Hong Kong Island line, which means there will be shorter queues at peak hours.'

Up to 70 passengers can pass through a flag ticket gate each minute, compared with 30 on a turnstile one, Mr Lo said.

The line is expected to carry 213,000 passengers each weekday in 2003, with numbers reaching 772,000 in 2011. Tests are being carried out on a prototype in Australia to ensure passenger safety, especially for children, over concerns that the system's gates might open or shut too quickly.

The MTR decided against new ticket vending machines for the line and will use its stockpile of touch-screen ones, made all but redundant due to the growing popularity of the Octopus system.

Further savings in cost and time will be made by technological advances in the use of voltage.

Some 600 pairs of station platform doors will be fitted, with work under way at Po Lam and Tiu Keng Leng and the rest due to start later this month, Mr Lo said.



Fast-moving MTR gates to save time and money